What if R and Julie hadn't met outside the city? What if R had been captured, to be used to train the children inside the fortified city of the Living? A different version of the R/Julie story, one where they meet in her world, not his.
Isaac Marion owns Warm Bodies. I just enjoy playing with the characters.
A Dark Negative of Love
Chapter 11 – R's House (the 747)
Suddenly Perry turned to me. "And you, corpse? You wanna join us? You could play drums…don't need to have an ear for that…"
Stunned, I looked back at him. "But these are your memories."
"Not anymore. Seems we're sharing real estate, now, and it's all in your brain. Try not to let the General blow it out, all over the dome, you know?"
The scene fades as I start back to reality.
I spent the next several hours watching Julie sleep. I found watching and listening to her slow, even breaths relaxing, and unconsciously I started creeping closer until I suddenly realized that I was standing over her. Startled, I almost jumped back, telling myself, Don't be creepy. Don't let her wake up and find you staring.
I decided to try being a hospitable host and anticipate her needs. Although it had been a long time since I had been a Living myself, I knew from having just spent time with her she would need water plus food.
Remembering that planes had galley kitchens, I wondered if there might be some still edible snacks in the back. After all, she seemed pretty excited to find those little yellow cakes, the Twinkies, at the gas station. Rooting through the tiny galley kitchen's drawers and carts, I didn't see little yellow cakes. I did, however, find metal packets with pictures of food on them, so I brought a few back to the main cabin, and carefully put them on the tray table next to her.
Next, I went over to my record collection. Frank Sinatra was my thing, but would it be hers? I suspected her kind of music was on this little musical box, the thing she called an MP3 player. She had pulled it out of her pocket and set it on the chair next to her before she went to sleep, so I carefully leaned over her sleeping body and picked it up, taking a deep breath of her sweet Living fragrance as I got close to her neck and face, the only parts not covered by the blanket. Her scent seemed to be wakening other sensations in me now, feelings of attraction and protectiveness that I hadn't felt this strongly in years.
Blinking my eyes, I pulled back quietly, and took the MP3 player back to the row with my record player. I turned it over carefully in my hands. I knew some of what was on it, as I had spent the night on the stadium roof listening to Perry's player.
As I peered through the cabin window again into the darkness, I saw that M was still outside, his distinctive outline clearly visible, showing him swaying at the foot of the stairs. Though I appreciated that he appeared to be guarding the entrance, eventually this might attract unwanted attention. I went back up to my little cockpit office so I could look at the device in peace. Sitting in my pilot's chair, I put in the earplugs and scrolled down the playlist, selecting songs at random, closing my eyes to concentrate on the melodies flowing into my ears, as I reflected on my plan to return her to the dome.
Thinking about tomorrow, I realized that one of us needed to be wounded so I could get some of our blood on her to mask her fresh Living scent. M had taken care of this yesterday, which meant it would be my turn today. After all, we didn't really experience pain, so drawing a little of my own black blood wouldn't hurt me. Much. And she needed the cover to get her back to her own, the Living. If, that is, I could stand to give her up…
Because it hurt to think about giving her up. It hurt to think about a world without her in it, to tell the truth. It was as if I was beginning to feel again, and I wasn't sure I liked it. This emotional pain was not fun.
In the middle of the night, I heard Julie stirring restlessly in her chair, so I left the sanctity of my cockpit and went back into the cabin to check on her.
She was tossing in her seat, saying, "Mom? Mom, no…"
It appeared she was having a bad dream, so I put my hand on her arm. "Ju-lie" I stuttered, and then gently shook her arm, trying to free her from the trap of her nightmare world.
She started up, not recognizing her surroundings, and I stumbled back. Slowly she calmed down. "Sorry, R. I didn't remember where I was," she whispered apologetically.
I shook my head, then said, "It's…OK. Happens."
She stared a bit longer, and then stretched, arching her back and putting both hands over her head. When she was done, she looked around the cabin groggily, and asked, "Do you think there's any food around here?"
I pointed to the little pile of airline snacks I had placed next to her while she slept.
"Oh, wow. You found something," she exclaimed. "Let's see if it's still good!"
She opened the little bottle of water I left her, taking a sniff. "This isn't great, but I'll drink it. Probably won't get a chance to die from the leached plastic, right?"
As she lifted the bottle to her lips, I said, "Keep you…safe."
She lowered it, looking at me with a strange smile. "You're OK, R." After finishing her water, she began to paw through the little metal packets, picking up each one in turn and examining it closely.
To my surprise, she added, "And somehow, I do feel safe with you."
I smiled. That meant the world to me. But then I was startled to hear Perry's voice in my head, saying, "You better keep her safe. That used to be my job."
I shook my head to clear it, giving a low growl.
Julie paused in her efforts to open one of the packages.
I smiled, and said, "Sorry. Thoughts…"
I tried to lighten the mood by taking out the MP-3 player and plugging it into the receiver I had found on one of my trips. It took a few tries, but eventually I found the right hole, and figured out how to flip on the music.
It was another one of the songs from Julie's Playlist. It was a quiet song, perfect for the middle of the night I thought. Very pretty, but kind of weird, called "Flightless Bird," by Iron and Wine. As the music and lyrics floated through the darkened cabin, Julie paused her snacking.
"Have I found you /
flightless bird/
wounded…"
As Julie listened, she started nodding her head sadly. "Yeah, that's me," she said. "Flightless, wounded bird. No more Perry, no more Mom." She bit her lip, while tears filled her eyes, but she wiped them away and then turned in her seat to me. "But for now, I got you, right?" she said softly.
I nodded, and started searching for a more upbeat song. I kept my head down so that she wouldn't see the excitement and hope in my eyes that her words had inspired in me. Because those feelings were futile, I knew that. What could a beautiful Living such as Julie see in me, a walking corpse with gray skin and eyes? She was just being kind.
Finally I gave up trying to find a song on her MP3 player, and went to my record collection, pulling out Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." Sliding the black vinyl circle out of the cover, I place it on the on the battered wooden record player, and carefully lowered the needle. Soon, the scratchy but familiar lyrics filled the plane's cabin…
"I see trees of green / red roses too/
I see 'em bloom for me and you…and I think to myself /
What a wonderful world…"
Julie had been watching me closely as I rooted through my collection. Now she smiled, and leaned back, looking out little window at all the Dead outside, still in their evening positions, swaying and moaning. Looking through the window next to her, I realized it was a surreal scene out on the runway, as their bodies almost appeared to create some kind of weird garden, composed of talk plants blowing in an invisible breeze.
Finally she fell back to sleep, and slept soundly, without any more nightmare, until the morning. And I sat in the row across from her, relishing the poignant emotions she was awakening in me, dreading the moment I had to do my duty and return her to her own world.
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